The present invention relates generally to the field of service licensing, and more particularly to automatically generating licenses for services available through online application marketplaces.
The growth and evolution of representational state transfer (REST) based architecture is influencing online software development. Software providers are publishing access to their REST-based applications, or modules, which provide specific function, and can be integrated into developers' software rather than reproducing code to accomplish the same function. Company-based developers and freelance developers build new applications, which are increasingly based on or include functions provided by existing, published service modules. One example of service modules made available to include in the development of other applications is a marketplace of application programming interfaces (APIs), such as Mashape. (Note: the term “Mashape” may be subject to trademark rights in various jurisdictions throughout the world and are used here only in reference to the products or services properly denominated by the marks to the extent that such trademark rights may exist.)
The service environment that markets APIs includes complex relationships between providers and consumers. Services are often marketed in a static, as-is state, and licensing for services is generally limited to an agreement of time-based availability for a fee. Users that consume multiple APIs are faced with a complex task of evaluating dependencies and constraints of individual API licenses to cover the licensing requirements of their own offerings.